RADICAL PUBLISHING FOR JANUARY

SPIKE TV SCREAM 2009 CLIPS

Spike TV has provided The Continuum with five clips from its SCREAM 2009 awards. The ceremony, held last Saturday at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles, will premiere on Spike TV on Tuesday, Oct. 27 at 10 p.m. ET/9 p.m. CT.

* For a clip of Taylor Lautner accepting the Best Fantasy Movie Award and introducing the world premiere of The Twilight Saga: New Moon, CLICK HERE.

Look for more from the event, including red carpet interviews, soon here in The Continuum.

NICKELODEON ACQUIRES TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLE RIGHTS

Nickelodeon -- part of MTV Networks, a division of Viacom Inc. -- has acquired the global rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from The Mirage Group and 4Kids Entertainment, Inc.

The aggregate purchase price for the transactions is approximately $60 million.

Nickelodeon also announced plans to develop a new CG-animated television series based on the franchise, anticipated to premiere in 2012. Additionally, in partnership with Viacom's Paramount Pictures, a new release of a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles feature film is also planned for 2012.

Nickelodeon has also acquired all merchandising rights to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and will continue to work with its original and long-standing toy partner, Playmates Toys.

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shares a comedic sensibility with the Nickelodeon DNA, with added layers of action and fantasy that have kept this property an evergreen favorite with multiple generations of audiences," said Cyma Zarghami, President, Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group. "We are extremely happy to have the opportunity to be able to focus on this property and creatively re-introduce it to a new generation of kids."

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a property that maintains a very passionate global fan base, is rich with opportunity for a tentpole movie, and is exactly the right property for us to work together with Nickelodeon," said Adam Goodman, President, Paramount Pictures.

"Mirage has been the proud keeper of the Turtlesą brand since 1984, and in 2009 we celebrated their 25th anniversary with our legions of fans," said Gary Richardson, CEO, Mirage Studios. "Nickelodeon is a powerhouse global brand, and we are confident that the company will be a wonderful steward for Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Donatello and all the other TMNT characters and take them in all kinds of exciting and new creative directions."

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated television series -- jointly produced by 4Kids Entertainment and Mirage Studios -- will continue to air on The CW 4Kids Saturday morning programming block through August 31, 2010.

DARK HORSE COMICS FIRST LOOKS

For covers and three- to six-page previews of Dark Horse Comics titles arriving in stores on Oct. 28, CLICK HERE.

IMAGE COMICS ROUNDUP

Top Cow Productions' Pilot Season continues in January with Pilot Season: Stealth #1, written by Robert Kirkman, with art by Sheldon Mitchell.

Here's how the book is described:

"Todd Carey is recovering from a nasty divorce, his daughter is flunking out of college and he's just learned that his father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Unable to really take care of himself, Todd has allowed his father to move in with him. What Todd doesn't know, is that his father is the masked vigilante Stealth -- and has been his entire life. Stealth has many enemies and his erratic behavior could easily get him killed -- and all his trouble falls squarely in Todd's lap."

Marc Silverstri created the concept with Kirkman and provides the cover.

In other Image news:

* Look for an ongoing ShadowHawk series to begin in May.

* The publisher has announced a February release for Chase Variant One Shot (Is All I Need) by Rich Johnston, Saverio Tenuta and Bagwell.

"Chase variant has two distinct sides to it, "Johnston said. "One is a balls-to-the-wall blockbuster with babes, bombs, and bazookas, an extraordinary body count and a beautiful body to boot, in the shape of the star genetically altered assassin of the series.

"The other is a metafictional treatise on the nature of reality, of fiction, of the stores we tell and the ornaments we collect. It's a meaningful piece of comic book philosophy that's constantly being shot at by a nearly-naked four armed tattooed walking weapon."

In the book, an assassin attempts to fulfill her missions while stopping rival governments from trying to collect her for themselves. Her every action is predicted by a very familiar card game being played by unknown assailants, challenging Chase's belief in self-determination.

* Image has announced that Cowboy Ninja Viking -- by AJ Lieberman and Riley Rossmo -- will now be an ongoing series instead of a mini-series.

"Even before its release, Cowboy Ninja Viking has seen a reception much like Chew's explosive launch, making it evident writer AJ Lieberman and artist Riley Rossmo shouldn't be contained to a mere four issues," Image Comics vice president Jim Valentino said. "In a time where it's very hard to launch an all-new title, the pre-release buzz for this book has been massive. We're extremely excited to keep it going for a long time coming. Considering we've had to already double our print run to meet demand, we think the fans will highly enjoy the now ongoing series."

To ensure a timely schedule, the series will ship in monthly arcs with two-month gaps in between each storyline.

JANUARY SOLICITATIONS ROUNDUP

For previously posted January solicitations, click on the publishers' names below: